https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2019/06/21/suspected-hezbollah-financier-extradited-to-the-u-s/
Paraguayan authorities extradited Nader Mohamad Farhat yesterday to Miami, where he faces criminal charges of money laundering. Farhat’s case promises to reveal the intricacies and magnitude of trade-based money laundering in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, including the role played by Lebanese Hezbollah.
A Miami federal court will decide whether Farhat will be tried there or in New York, where he faces similar charges. In the case before the New York court, Farhat is an alleged co-conspirator in a case involving another Paraguayan national of Lebanese origin, Mahmoud Ali Barakat, and three other defendants who are accused of assisting in the laundering of drug monies from inside the U.S.
Court documents refer to Farhat as a “known money launderer for narcotics organizations and other illicit organizations,” while media reports allege a possible connection to Hezbollah. According to a Department of Justice press release announcing the indictment of his co-conspirators, Farhat participated in “an international money laundering scheme relying on the complexities of global trade, and the use of … businesses here in New York and in Florida, to launder millions of dollars for transnational drug traffickers and other bad actors.” (The cases have since been merged.)
These cases highlight how Latin American drug cartels and other organized crime groups continue to exploit complex, trade-based schemes to launder their ill-gotten gains. Critically, many of the companies involved are in the United States, exposing the U.S. financial system to considerable reputational risk.
The case also reveals the growing importance of the TBA to this type of financial crime. Almost a decade ago, a large Drug Enforcement Administration investigation exposed the connection between Latin American drug cartels and Hezbollah financiers. The investigation focused on the Lebanese Canadian Bank and revealed Hezbollah’s use of extensive trade-based money laundering networks in Colombia and Venezuela, which laundered cartel drug money through West Africa and used car businesses in the United States before repatriating the funds to the cartels through Lebanese-based financial institutions. . .
Exclusive: sanctioned Hezbollah agent has close ties to Iran’s money laundering network in Iraq
The National has obtained new details about accused Mohammad Abd Al Hadi Farhat’s business activities
A shadowy Hezbollah intelligence operative in Iraq has close ties to what the US refers to as a key money-laundering network by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, an investigation by The National has found.
In November 2018, the US sanctioned Mohammad Abd Al Hadi Farhat, saying the Lebanese citizen was advising militias in Iraq for Hezbollah, as well as collecting intelligence for the organisation.
“Farhat has been involved in a project to analyse and report on the Iraqi security situation for Hezbollah and the IRGC-QF,” according to the US Department of the Treasury, referring to the foreign operations wing of Iran’s paramilitary force.
The US government did not provide more information on Mr Farhat, but The National has obtained further data on the accused Hezbollah official’s activities. Mr Farhat is close to an alleged money launderer for the IRGC’s Quds Force, with interests in Iraq.
Hezbollah and its Iranian benefactors have worked in tandem in Iraq, building influence there and benefiting from a network of businesses to finance their operations.
“Iraq is becoming very important for Hezbollah fundraising,” said Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Corporate documents reviewed by The National, as well as a copy of Mr Farhat’s ID, reveal that in 2004 he established General Services Co S.A.R.L, an import-export company with branches in Beirut and southern Lebanon. Although the company has little public presence, it has been active in recent years, with its board of directors meeting as recently as April 2017.
One of the alleged Hezbollah spy’s business partners in the little-known company is married to Mohammad Abd Al Amir Farhat, who was sanctioned by the US in 2017 for allegedly being part of a “key IRGC-QF-run support network working with Hezbollah”.
Beyond being brothers-in-law, the two Farhats are cousins who come from the southern Lebanese village of Arab Salim, according to a funeral notice reviewed by The National. . .